How Do Teams Make It To WWC 2023?

A numbered explainer box setting out the route to the 2023 World Cup, printed alongside the April qualifying gallery when the group stage was reaching its decisive weeks. The nine European group winners qualify directly. The runners-up go into play-offs between 3 and 11 October 2022, with the three best of them seeded straight into round two while the remaining six contest three single-leg ties in round one. Those three winners then meet the seeded sides in single-leg play-offs, with the pairings drawn rather than fixed. The two play-off winners ranked highest on qualifying and play-off results take the last direct places, and the remaining winner is sent to a ten-team inter-confederation tournament held in Australia and New Zealand from 17 to 23 February 2023.